Many countries in Asia and the Pacific are well-suited to solar power initiatives, and incentives and low-cost financing mechanisms should be made available to help the region make the transition possible, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda.

'The Asia and Pacific region has the right combination of elements - demand for energy, access to sunlight and arid land, technological maturity, and a sound investment climate,' Mr. Kuroda said at the First Asia Solar Energy Forum in Manila.

However, Mr. Kuroda said that obstacles such as high up-front capital costs of investing in solar energy and a high-risk perception had to date been keeping many solar energy investors on the sidelines.

'The role of multilateral development institutions, such as ADB and its partners, should be to play a catalytic role to overcome these institutional capacity, policy, technology, and financing barriers,' Mr. Kuroda said.

The two-day forum, a part of the Asian Solar Energy Initiative (ASEI) announced by ADB earlier this year, brought together some 200 policy makers and solar energy-related professionals from 34 ADB member countries.

The event was hosted by ADB in partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).

Under ASEI, ADB targets to catalyze projects for about 3,000 megawatts in solar power by 2013. The ASEI also includes the establishment of a knowledge platform named the Asia Solar Energy Forum, support for project preparation, and direct financing of solar energy projects.

It will also help raise concessional funds from donor countries to partly mitigate risks of the high up-front capital costs of investing in solar energy, and design other innovative ways to attract private-sector investment.

In her closing remarks at the Manila event on Tuesday, Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Ursula Schaefer-Preuss said the forum represented a step towards a solar energy revolution in the Asia and Pacific region.

'Solar power has the potential to promote low-carbon growth, ensure energy security, increase access to energy for all and achieve ADB's overall objective of poverty reduction,' she said. Ms. Schaefer-Preuss also announced that the second meeting of the forum will take place in Tokyo in December.

Related news

New software-driven power electronics, which are quickly becoming the norm in the electricity system, are currently not always adequately tested by the electricity industry. This leads to an increased risk of failures in the power network, according to anew position paperfrom global technical consultancy DNV GL. The company calls on the industry to develop new technical standards and testing methods fit for the smart, low carbon electricity system of the future.
Existing methods of testing and validating power...

The potential of solar power is significant, with the International Energy Agency previously stating that the sun could be the planet’s biggest source of electricity by 2050.
In the U.K., the appetite for solar among some is becoming increasingly stronger. “We’re in the middle of what you can only describe as an energy revolution in the U.K.,” Alan Whitehead, member of parliament for the opposition Labour Party, told CNBC.
“Solar power is now becoming increasingly central to U.K....

Bullfrog Power, Canada’s leading green energy provider, and Pender Solar Initiative are announcing the launch of a new solar project on British Columbia’s Pender School. The project is part of Pender Solar Initiative’s 2020 campaign to install solar PV systems on the roof of every suitable public building on Pender, BC, by 2020.
“We are thrilled by the success of the Pender School solar roof project and hope other schools across Canada will follow in our tracks,” said David Boyd of...

The company will install 96 E1.37 MW inverters, made by Gamesa Electric, at two solar power projects being developed in southern India
Gamesa has entered into an agreement with Indian developer Atria Power for the EPC construction of 130 MW of solar power at two developments located in the regions of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, in southern India. It is the largest solar order received by Gamesa since it entered this sector in India last year.
Under the terms of this EPC contract, Gamesa will develop two...

October 24, 2016 --Enel Green Power North America’s Stillwater plant, outside the desert town of Fallon, Nevada, came online in 2009 as a conventional geothermal plant and later added solar panels. After adding concentrating solar power in 2015, it became the world’s first triple hybrid renewable energy plant.
Engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’sIdaho National LaboratoryandNational Renewable Energy Laboratoryare helping analyze the integration of the geothermal plant with the newer...

Customer comments

No comments were found for Asia Pacific must make the transition to solar power. Be the first to comment!